VulnerabilityPublished 8 Jul 2025

CVE-2025-20688: MediaTek MT6890, MT7615, MT7622, MT7663, MT7915, MT7916, MT7981, MT7986 · Out-of-bounds Read

Affects MediaTek MT6890, MT7615, MT7622, MT7663, MT7915, MT7916, MT7981, MT7986Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium : upgrade to 19.07 when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 8% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 19.07

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 8 Jul 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade MediaTek MT6890, MT7615, MT7622, MT7663, MT7915, MT7916, MT7981, MT7986 to 19.07.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
MediaTek, Inc. MT6890, MT7615, MT7622, MT7663, MT7915, MT7916, MT7981, MT7986	Affected <19.07 =21.02	Fixed in 19.07

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2025-20688, European organizations should: 1) Immediately inventory all devices and systems using the affected MediaTek chipsets and verify the firmware or SDK versions in use, focusing on SDK release 7.6.7.2 and earlier and openWRT 19.07 and 21.02 deployments. 3) Where patches are not yet available, consider isolating vulnerable devices on segmented networks with strict access controls to limit local attacker access. 4) Implement strict user privilege management to minimize the number of users with local execution rights on affected devices. 5) Monitor network and system logs for unusual local access patterns or memory-related errors that could indicate exploitation attempts. 6) For openWRT users, consider upgrading to newer, unaffected versions or applying community patches if official fixes are delayed. 7) Conduct regular security assessments and penetration tests focusing on wireless infrastructure to detect potential exploitation or information leakage. These steps go beyond generic advice by emphasizing precise inventory, vendor coordination, network segmentation, and proactive monitoring tailored to the specific nature of this vulnerability.

Description

In wlan AP driver, there is a possible out of bounds read due to an incorrect bounds check. This could lead to local information disclosure with User execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Patch ID: WCNCR00418047; Issue ID: MSV-3480.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-20688 primarily revolves around confidentiality breaches due to local information disclosure. Enterprises relying on MediaTek chipsets in their wireless access points or embedded devices running affected SDK or openWRT versions could face risks of sensitive data leakage, including cryptographic keys, configuration data, or user information stored in memory. This could undermine network security, facilitate lateral movement within internal networks, or enable attackers to bypass security controls. The lack of required user interaction and the local execution privilege requirement mean that attackers with limited access—such as employees, contractors, or compromised internal hosts—could exploit this vulnerability without alerting users. This is particularly concerning for organizations with large deployments of IoT devices, wireless infrastructure, or embedded systems using these chipsets. Additionally, the vulnerability could be leveraged as a stepping stone for more severe attacks, including privilege escalation or persistent compromise. Given the widespread use of openWRT in European network devices and the prevalence of MediaTek chipsets in consumer and enterprise wireless hardware, the threat could affect a broad range of sectors including telecommunications, manufacturing, healthcare, and public administration.

CWE-125Out-of-bounds Read (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessCWE Top 25 (2025): #8
The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Architecture and Design · Language Selection
Use a language that provides appropriate memory abstractions.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Overread Buffers (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

corp.mediatek.com/product-security-bulletin/July-2025 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 8 Jul 2025, 02:57 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-125

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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